


After School Special

by Caraphernellic



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Highschool AU, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:08:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caraphernellic/pseuds/Caraphernellic
Summary: Castiel has never thought twice about what lurks in the dark, until a chance encounter with the Winchester brothers opens his eyes to a world he never knew existed.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Kudos: 6





	After School Special

**Author's Note:**

> Updates every Wednesday!

“Watch out!” Castiel barely has any time to react before a body is barreling into him, knocking him onto the hard earth. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees another body leap toward them, but this one is much bigger, and...furrier.

“Now, Sam!” 

Castiel watches as a younger guy beheads a snarling wolf right in front of them.

“Castiel?” The boy looks at him in confusion, and he recognizes him as Sam Winchester, a boy from his high school several grades below him. The other male with him, currently on top of his own body, doesn’t look familiar despite his age being obviously closer to Castiel’s own.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” The boy rolls off of Castiel, and for the first time he sees his arm in a sling. It must have aggravated his injury to tackle Castiel out of harm's way, but he did it anyway.

“Um, walking?” He tries. His mind is racing a mile a minute trying to process what he just saw.

“Outside, on a full moon?” The other boy snorts.

“Dean, don't be a jerk, it’s not like he _knows_.” Sam frowns.

The other boy, Dean, gestures to the immobile body to their right. “Well he does now.”

“Is that…” Castiel peers at it skeptically.

“Yes, it’s a werewolf.” Dean finishes, sounding serious but also resigned, like this isn’t the first time he’s given this speech.

“But how…” Castiel knows he sounds idiotic, unable to form a complete sentence, but Dean just pulls him up.

“C’mon, let’s get rid of the body and get out of here.”

~

In all the ways Castiel imagined his walk going, this was not it. How many times had he wished for something interesting to happen in his life? It seems he got more than he bargained for.

“So all of it, it’s all real?” The dark haired boy looks to Dean for answers as they drive out of the forest.

“Yes, sorry to break it to ya kid.” Dean doesn’t look at him for a reaction, and Sam is silent in the back.

“I’m 18.” Castiel defends, as if that’s the most important part of what Dean said.

“Me too.” Dean shrugs.

“How come I don’t see you around at school?” Castiel wonders aloud. He mostly sees the younger Winchester in the library in passing, but he’s sure he’s never once seen Dean. He would remember a handsome face like that.

“Because I don’t go. My Uncle Bobby said I could only hunt full time if I finished school, so I took accelerated classes and graduated early. Don’t think it’s quite what he had in mind, but it works.” He shrugs again, entirely too nonchalant for the context of the conversation.

“You do this all the time? Hunting, what, creatures?”

“We save people.” Sam finally speaks, his expression in the rear view mirror earnest.

“Is that what happened to your arm?” Castiel nods toward the elder Winchester’s arm in the sling.

“Yes.” Dean says tightly, but then turns up the radio. No one speaks for the rest of the ride.

~

Dean lets out a low whistle when they pull up to Cas’ place. “Can’t imagine why you’d be walking in the woods to escape a place like this.” He cranes his head to look out the window at the ornate architecture.

Castiel’s cheeks flush. “You’d be surprised.” He mumbles. He gets out of the car and begins to walk away, when Dean stops him.

“Hey, you can’t tell anyone, alright? It could be dangerous for them, you know, amateurs and all that.”

Castiel nods, unsure of what else to say. It’s not like anyone would believe him anyway.

“And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Castiel watches the two brothers drive away.

~

He can’t sleep that night, for obvious reasons. Every sound outside makes him jump, and he’s sure he must’ve replayed the scene of the snarling werewolf 100 times over in his mind. Sam had killed it like it was nothing, hadn’t even batted an eye. He must only be about 14 or 15- and then Dean, the way he spoke about it, called it hunting. He also mentioned that their uncle knew, so it must be normal for them.

Castiel considers himself to be reasonably intelligent, but he just can’t wrap his brain around this.

~

When he sees Sam at school the next day, he is relieved when the other boy waves first. Cas wasn’t sure if he should make an acknowledgement.

“Hey, you doing okay?” Sam sits down at the same table as him in the library, expression worried.

“Yeah, I mean, it happened.” Castiel tries and fails to perfect Dean’s casual shrug from the night before.

“It can be a lot.” Sam says sympathetically. “And I’m sorry about Dean, he can be ...harsh.” 

“He saved me.” Cas reminds him. 

“Yeah, well he’s a softie.” He smiles wryly. “Hunting is his thing, you know? He enjoys all of it, saving people, feeling like he’s making a difference.”

Castiel nods, that explains the tackling to get him out of harm's way.

“But don’t tell him I told you that. He thinks he has everyone fooled into thinking he does it for the glory.” The way Sam talks about his big brother makes Castiel long for his own siblings, for the days when they were all under one roof. He’s the youngest by a number of years, the last to still be living at home with their parents.

“Is it safe for you guys to be _hunting_?” Castiel whispers the last word.

“I mean, maybe not exactly…” Sam has mixed feelings- they are helping people, but it’s at their own expense. And the expense of their entire lives. There’s a large part of him that resents their father for dragging them into the life.

They talk quietly over their books, and Castiel has a weird feeling in his stomach. This is the first time he’s felt a part of something in _so_ long, like he isn’t invisible. 

Sam checks his watch, “Shoot, Dean is probably outside to pick me up. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” 

Cas stands too. “I should probably head home as well.” They walk out of the front doors together, and Dean beckons Cas to the car as well.

“Hey, I’ll give you a ride, hop in.”

“No thank you, I’m used to walking. My house is close- well, you know that.” Cas gestures vaguely and looks down, embarrassed. Dean is so tough and handsome, and Castiel is just a boring high school student, a nobody. He finds it hard to meet the other boy’s eyes.

“Just get in.” Dean rolls his eyes.

“Um, okay, thank you.” Castiel dutifully climbs into the backseat of Dean Winchester’s car for the second time.

“You doing okay?” Dean asks him, glancing in the rearview mirror. Castiel already knows what he is referring to.

“I mean, yeah. I suppose.” 

“Cas is a badass.” Sam pipes up. “He’s cool with it Dean, with everything.”

“Yeah, well, that don’t mean he’s gonna be beheading his own wolves anytime soon.” He hands a small bag to the backseat, and the dark haired boy grabs it from him.

“What’s this?” He peers inside the grocery bag and sees a canister of Morton salt. 

“It uh, it protects against the things that go bump in the night.” Dean tells him, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “You should put it around your windows and doors. I just thought since you know now, you should know how to fend for yourself a little.”

“Thank you Dean, that was very kind of you.” Cas sees what Sam means now about his brother being a “softie”. He’s weirdly touched by the gesture.

“It’s just salt, don’t go writing poetry about me now.” Dean grits out.

Castiel wears his smile all the way up to his room.

~

“I noticed yesterday that there were no cars in the driveway after school, are you home alone right after?” Sam questions him the next day.

“Yes, my parents work a lot.” Cas shrugs, he’s used to it by now.

“Yeah, our dad’s not around a ton either. We have our Uncle Bobby now though, he’s not even really our uncle, but- you know what, that’s not really relevant. You could come to The Roadhouse after school with me, I go there a lot to study while Dean is working.” Sam looks hopeful to have a study buddy.

“I would love to, Sam.”

After classes end for the day, the pair walks down the street to The Roadhouse. It’s about a fifteen minute walk from the school. Cas can see Dean’s Impala already in the parking lot, and remembers Sam saying that Dean _worked_ here. He must have this job in addition to hunting- Castiel can’t imagine that pays well.

Or at all.

He imagines himself slipping the Winchester brothers a fifty that night- “Hey, thanks for saving my life from that werewolf, sure was a close one”- and chuckles to himself.

“Want to sit here?” Sam’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. Cas nods in response and they each slide into the booth, across from each other.

They spread their books out and start working, when two sodas silently appear in front of them. The other boy seems unfazed, but Cas glances up to see Dean’s back walking away from them.

“Dean works here often?” He asks, then immediately winces. God, his people skills really are rusty. Why must he constantly be so awkward around people?

Sam sips his drink. “Yep, usually five days a week. When he’s not gone on a hunt, ya know.” He shrugs.

“Gone? You mean you guys travel and do this?”

The other boy nods, his long hair flopping over his forehead with the motion. “Our dad used to take us all over the country, but Uncle Bobby said we could stay with him for stability. Wanted us to go to one school, be settled.” He seems grateful. “Our dad is still out there though. And sometimes Dean goes on a solo hunt, but he usually sticks around here, or not far. He did one not too long ago, came back with the messed up arm. He won’t even tell me what happened.” That prompts Castiel to glance back over to the bar, where he can just barely see Dean back in the kitchen. They’re the same age, yet he can’t even fathom the weight on Dean’s shoulders and responsibilities he has.

“How did your family get into this?” He wonders aloud.

“Can we talk about something else?” Sam’s tone is gentle, but a glance up at his expression tells Cas that this subject is painful for him, and he feels properly chagrined for the second time today.

“Of course, my apologies, I was being rude.” They quickly switch over to talking about school and the class they’re mutually studying for.

When they leave a few hours later, Cas throws a tip on the table despite Sam reassuring him that their sodas were on the house. He’s oblivious to Dean’s eyes tracking him from the kitchen at the action.

~

Cas begins to spend a lot more time with Sam Winchester in the coming weeks, despite their age difference- two outcast boys with no parents waiting for them after school. They often go to The Roadhouse, but sometimes they go to a park, or a nature trail, and on one memorable occasion, to the ice cream shoppe to split the biggest sundae on the menu. It’s an unspoken rule that they never go to Sam’s place nor Castiel’s.

Cas sees Dean almost as much as he sees Sam, although their interaction is much more limited. He often picks them up from here or there, but he doesn’t always stick around for the hanging out part.

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to, he’s just busy.” Sam explains to him. “On a job, or at The Roadhouse, or...whatever it is that Dean does.” He shakes his head fondly. The dark-haired boy nods absently, pretending to be aloof at Dean’s frequent absences.

Truthfully, he worries for the man, often thinking of him all alone and hunting sharp-toothed creatures in the woods. It keeps him up at night sometimes. Dean’s arm is out of the sling now, but it’s not uncommon to see other scrapes or bruises, and each time it makes Cas’ stomach turn, causes another dark creature to appear in his mind’s eye.

~

Sam had texted Castiel earlier in the day to say he was sick and would not be at school today. Cas stares out the library window at the pelting rain, internally sighing. The walk home will be unpleasant at best, without a ride in the Impala to shield him from the rain.

He thinks back to when he had asked his parents for a car, stating he would be willing to get a job to help pay for the expenses; although he knew his parents were more than capable of doling out the money without a dent in their pockets. His mother had stated that a vehicle would be ‘impractical’ since they live so close to the high school.

Cas wanted to tell her that he thought her second closet full of only shoes and handbags was ‘impractical’, but of course he said nothing.

He is exiting the library when he sees the familiar outline of a sleek black car idling in front of the school.

He pulls his hood up and walks closer, having half a mind to pinch himself to make sure he is really seeing this. Castiel slides into the passenger seat for the first time.

“Sam isn’t at school today-”

Dean cuts him off. “I know, I came to pick _you_ up.” He gestures out the windshield. “You think I’d let you walk in this downpour? C’mon, what kind of guy do you take me for?” He teases.

“You’re right, I know how kind of a man you are. I shouldn’t have doubted it.” Cas says seriously.

Dean flushes and doesn’t respond. 

They pull up to Cas’ place, and he wipes his sweaty palms on his pants. “You could come in, you know. If you wanted. If Sam isn’t waiting for you…”

Dean looks at him for a silent moment. “Yeah. Lead the way.” He parks the Impala in the circular driveway and they walk inside, Dean trailing behind him almost hesitantly. His hair and his jacket are a little wet from the walk in, and Cas offers to grab it from him.

He hands it over, shivering when his bare arms hit the air of the cold, empty house. His damp hair certainly isn’t helping any matters. “Sorry, it’s always pretty...sterile in here.” Cas grimaces. He tries (and fails) not to stare at Dean’s handsome profile.

“Would you like something to drink, or eat?” The polite church boy still resides in him, a habit that he’s never quite broken.

The Dean Winchester Charming Smile #2 is flashed at him. “Well Cas, you sure do know the way to my heart.” He follows him to the expansive kitchen. Cas stops short, wringing his hands.

“What?” Dean plops down onto a stool.

“Um...I can't cook.” Castiel confesses.

“Consider today your first lesson, then.”

~

“If you put your thumb in the middle of the patty, it won’t shrink when it cooks.” The pair are standing side by side, elbows brushing although the kitchen is quite large. Their sleeves are rolled up, and they are working with raw hamburger to make homemade burgers.

“Do you do a lot of cooking?” Cas watches the deft way Dean moves around the kitchen, completely sure of himself.

“It was born out of necessity, but I’ve learned to enjoy it. This place is great, I could do so much more with a place like this.” He gestures around. “Definitely more than a motel room and boxed Mac and cheese. Although you’d be surprised, some of my recipes were a hit and have stuck around.”

His candid confession shocks both of them.

“Sam told me you traveled a lot with your dad when you were younger.” Cas says carefully.

Dean shrugs, not meeting his eye. “Yeah, dad would take a hunt across the country and take us with him. When we were still too young to join, I’d watch Sam in whatever room we’d rented for that day. Now I cook for Sam and Bobby every night.”

“I’m sure they appreciate that very much. I would love a home cooked meal every night.” Castiel says wistfully.

“You should come over sometimes.” Dean finally looks up. His phone rings, breaking the moment. He quickly washes his hands and steps away to take the call.

He re-enters the kitchen a few minutes later. “Is everything okay?” Cas tilts his head.

“Yeah.” Dean offers no other elaboration on the matter. “So how about we get to cooking these burgers?”

~

Cas hates that he’s pathetic enough to lay in bed at night replaying a completely platonic encounter cooking dinner with a friend, but that’s exactly what he’s doing. The way Dean’s biceps bunched as he worked the patties, his side profile, his long lashes as they brush his cheeks when he looks down...Castiel has known that he’s gay his entire life. He’s never had an official boyfriend, and only kissed one person, a boy named Samandriel, and that was years ago.

He’s broken from his reverie by the buzz of his phone.

Incoming message from Sam Winchester:

_Dean is going on a solo hunt tonight. I’m worried about him. You in?_

Castiel isn’t entirely sure what being ‘in’ entails, but if it could potentially help Dean, then he’s definitely in.

~

He meets Sam down the street, and he hops on the pegs of his bike as they race toward a bridge at the edge of town.

“It’s a _what_?” Castiel asks for the third time.

“A woman in white.”

“That’s like a ghost?” Maybe Cas should be brushing up on his lore in his free time.

“Basically, yeah. And they’re super dangerous to men, so we need to get to Dean fast.”

When they get to the bridge, they crouch down behind a scraggly bush. “Don’t let her see us.” 

There’s still a portion of him that thinks this all can’t possibly be real, but when he sees a wispy, transparent woman, it’s all of the proof he needs. Right before their eyes, she shrieks and shoves Dean, hard. He skitters back and lands hard on his ass, and Cas and Sam wince in sympathy from the shadows. The woman- ghost- whatever, jumps onto Dean and rakes her nails over his chest, ripping his shirt in long streaks. Sam stands suddenly.

“Dean!”

Both heads whip toward them, and Cas internally panics. What should he do? 

Sam speaks “Virginia. Thomas is waiting for you, on the other side. You can stop all this, and go to him.” His voice doesn’t even waver, and Castiel is impressed.

She stops. “Thomas?”

Cas can’t believe he’s hearing a _spirit_ speak right now. She stands and walks a few steps forward, before vanishing as if she was never there. Cas finally stands and runs to Dean.

“Are you alright?” He crouches and surveys the damage, wincing at the gashes welling blood between the fabric of his shredded shirt. He places a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Cas? What the hell are you doing here? And you!” He points at Sam behind them. “This is too dangerous!”

“You didn’t think it was too dangerous for you. Alone.” Sam counters.

“Yeah well I’m me, and you two are...you two. And the you two that you two are is...not hunters.” Dean scowls, standing up.

“I can’t believe Bobby let you take this one.” They start heading toward the Impala, parked a small way up the road.

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Friggin’ ghost got me good.” He smooths a hand down his front, grimacing at the sting.

“He doesn’t know?” Sam balks. “Where does he think you are?”

“Out.” Dean grumbles.

“I’m sure he’s going to figure it out when you walk in bloody and beat to hell.” 

“We can go to my place.” Castiel suggests, interrupting the quarrel between the brothers.

“Your parents still aren’t home?” Dean looks at him for the first time that night. Cas shakes his head silently.

“It’s gotten exemplified now that I’m 18 and legally an adult.” The dark-haired boy says.

They drive in silence to Castiel’s, the air thick with tension between the three of them.

“Twice in one day, huh?” Dean jokes, chuffing a laugh and then wincing when it aggravates his wounds.

“Dean has been inside?” Sam looks between the two of them.

“We ate dinner together.” Dean shrugs.

“You ate di-” Sam goes to repeat Dean, but the other man cuts him off.

“Yeah, short stack. But right now we have bigger fish to fry, eh?” He gestures to himself.

“I’m almost taller than you.” Sam grumbles, but lets the subject drop.

Castiel leads them to his room and en suite bathroom. Sam stays in the bedroom, checking out Cas’ comic collection, while Dean parks himself on the edge of the bathtub. 

“Nurse Cas, work your magic.” He carefully peels off his destroyed t-shirt, and Cas swallows hard at the sight of the other man shirtless. He grabs the small first aid kit from the under sink cabinet. “This is going to sting.” He warns, dabbing a cotton ball of disinfectant carefully over the scratches.

“I’ve had worse.” The other man shrugs indifferently.

“That doesn’t make me feel better. I don’t like seeing you hurting.” Cas admits. He doesn’t dare meet Dean’s eyes.

“Is that why you and Sam came to the hunt? That was stupid, you know.”

Castiel ignores that comment. “I like your necklace.” The jewelry is a black cord with some sort of pendant on the end, and damn if he can pretend it doesn’t look good resting against Dean’s bare chest. He mentally chastises himself for ogling an injured guy, but he couldn’t stop being attracted to Dean if he tried.

“Thanks, it’s something Sam got me when we were kids. I never take it off.” He rests a palm on Cas’ thigh, Cas guesses to ground himself as he gets his wounds tended to. His hand is warm even through his jeans, and he wills himself not to squirm.

He sees Dean looking at something behind him and he stills. He knows immediately what he must have seen- in the corner of his under sink cabinet is a stack of magazines that he keeps hidden.

Porn magazines.

_Gay_ porn magazines.

He doesn’t use them- they’re something that Gabriel got for him a few years back. His brother had disguised them as a gag gift but he has the sneaking suspicion that it was his brother’s way of giving him his approval, letting him know that he didn’t have a problem with his sexual orientation.

“Didn’t peg you for a _Bears with Beards_ kind of guy.” Dean says, no trace of mirth in his voice. 

“You can see that from over here?” Castiel squeaks. His cheeks flare red and he hates that he feels embarrassed.

“No, I have that one. I recognized the cover.”

Cas looks down at him, stunned.

“What, I don’t seem gay enough for you or something?” Dean is automatically defensive.

“No, I just didn’t know, is all. You’re gay too?” 

“Well, bi actually. But I’m not really...out. I don’t think my dad would approve.” It’s Dean’s cheeks’ turn to flush pink. “It’s stupid, to pretend to be something you’re not, I know that.”

He sounds ashamed, and it breaks Cas’ heart. He can practically feel little fissures forming in the organ at the thought that Dean feels like he can’t be accepted for who he really is.

“I’m sorry that you feel that way.” 

“Dean! He has the original _The Walking Dead_ comics!” Sam’s excited voice drifts into the bathroom.

“I’ll be right out, Sammy.”

They spend some more time in Castiel’s room, just relaxing and getting their bearings after the hunt. It’s really nice, having friends over and not dealing with the usual loneliness and isolation. Cas feels grateful that he met the Winchesters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've posted a Destiel story... leave a comment or a kudos to let me know if you are enjoying it!


End file.
